Over the past fifteen years, more than 1,500 publicly funded youth clubs in the UK have closed. Austerity-era council cuts gutted the funding keeping them alive, and soon the buildings followed, sold off and repurposed. What disappeared with them was not just table tennis and tuck shops. Rather it was the third space; somewhere between home and school where young people could simply be, both mentored informally and trusted with independence. The scale of the loss in London alone is stark. Between 2011 and 2018, £39 million was cut from local authority youth budgets across the capital, and 81 youth centres and projects were halted. If we look on a national scale, the average number of youth clubs per local authority nearly halved. This loss is not maintainable, if we wish to continue to improve the lives of young people, this landslide cannot bear the weight of the progress that more and more youths need each year. The Institute for Fiscal Studies found that ‘teenagers affected by these closures performed 4% worse in their GCSEs and became 14% more likely to commit crimes’. These are not abstract consequences, rather a direct result of youth neglect in public spending. In 2024, government-commissioned research found that in the year following a drop in local authority youth spending, areas saw increased weapon offences and higher rates of reoffending among the most vulnerable young people.
One charity is on a mission to be there for young people no matter what.
London Youth, is a network of nearly 600 member organisations supporting over 600,000 young Londoners, has watched this unfold from the front line. The charity works with some of the capital’s most under-served young people; more than half come from the most deprived communities in England, and nearly two-thirds of member organisations work with young people affected by violence.
“When a youth club closes, the loss is not just a building. It is the trusted adult who notices when a young person is struggling, the safe place they can go after school, and the positive relationships that help them feel they belong,”
says Pauline Daniyan, CEO of London Youth. This voluntary relationship rooted in trust, is at the heart of what makes youth work so important. Unlike school, a young person chooses to walk through the door of a youth club. It is that choice, youth workers pride themselves on, making the relationship so powerful. And it is that relationship that enables a youth worker to spot early warning signs of struggle or simply be the adult who shows up and lends an ear. London Youth’s own research found that only ‘14% of young Londoners feel connected to their local community, despite 71% saying they want to make a positive contribution.’ Highlighting the will is there from young people to make the change, they wish to instigate within their own community and use their passions- combating loneliness is a key part of building relationships, not only with workers, but with each other fostering a community of togetherness.
“Youth clubs are not a nostalgic extra. At their best, they are trusted, consistent spaces where young people can build relationships with adults who know them, believe in them and notice when something is wrong,”
Daniyan says.
“That kind of support cannot be replicated by an app or a one-off programme.”
Now, there are signals of renewed political will. Sadiq Khan has pledged fresh investment in youth clubs as part of his wider agenda for young Londoners. The Government’s Young Futures Hubs programme has allocated £70 million for local transformation to 2029, with eight early local authorities receiving initial funding this year. It is a landmark moment; but also, a test of cautious optimism. Whether this investment reaches the organisations that have held their ground through a multitude of cuts is the question those in the sector are asking. Many of the organisations operating in South London are small, community-rooted, and running on limited capacity. The risk, Daniyan says, is that new money creates short-term activity without rebuilding the infrastructure young people actually rely on.
“We welcome renewed investment in youth provision, but the test is whether it reaches the trusted organisations already rooted in young people’s lives. Young Londoners need consistent relationships, not short-term projects that disappear just as trust has been built.”
But if we stand back and look at what is already happening, a blueprint has emerged, and we must take heed. London Youth’s 600 member organisations, many of them local and community-led- are proof that this model is not a relic. It is alive, and it works. Young people who are disengaged from school, disconnected from services, are at risk of being pulled towards violence are being reached not by lofty programmes from above; but by a trusted adult in a familiar building on a familiar street, who knows their name and turns up every week. That is not an extraordinary ask. It is the baseline of what every young person in this city should be able to access, regardless of their postcode. A safe space. A skilled adult. A consistent presence. The evidence is clear that it reduces offending, improves school engagement and strengthens communities. The organisations capable of delivering it already exist, the London Youth charity, but they are being asked to do it without the resources they need. The model does not need to be reinvented. It needs to be resourced, sustained and made universal. A guarantee; that every young person in South London, and beyond, has somewhere to go and someone who will notice if they stop showing up.
That is what is attainable. The only question is whether those with the power to fund it will choose to treat it as essential, because for a generation growing up without it, it already is.
